Teresa Esser

About Teresa Esser

I have over 20 years of experience advising family offices, high net worth individuals and foundations on how to source deals, perform due diligence and allocate capital in a way that\'s aligned with their mission, purpose and values. I have served as the Managing Director of the Silicon Pastures Angel Investment Network, General Partner of an early stage venture capital fund, and manager of the private equity strategy for a multi-family office. These roles have allowed mo to provide capital to 40 early stage companies and realize ten exits that provided investors with returns of between 2 and 20X. In addition, I have served as a Board Member for The Milwaukee Club, the oldest private club East of the Allegheny Mountains.I believe that venture capitalists are \"warehousers of talent\" and I am proud to have helped numerous portfolio companies fill positions in the C-suite.I have served as a scout for Korea-based Hansol Chemical, which spun off of Samsung; participated in a co-GP relationship with a Korean sovereign wealth fund; and helped dozens of South Korean companies explore the possibility of expanding their businesses into the US. I have also served as a Senior Consultant for August Brown, a boutique consultancy that focuses on feasibility studies and consulting projects related to capacity utilization; and as Managing Director of Community Banking for a woman-led, social impact focused financial technology company whose mission was to build a more sustainable, inclusive, and just world. I am an MIT grad and a recipient of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 under 40 award. My book, The Venture Cafe: Secrets, Strategies and Stories from America’s High-Tech Entrepreneurs (Warner Business Books, 2002) was turned into a global foundation that hosts weekly networking events in eleven cities, including Boston, Cambridge, St. Louis, Miami, Winston-Salem, Providence, Philadelphia, Rotterdam, Sydney, Warsaw, and Tokyo.

Experience

1. Business Consulting

   Silicon Pastures Llc

   Jan 2025 — Present · Milwaukee, WI, US

   Consulting on fundraising and business development projects in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, serving family offices, business owners and 501(c)(3)s.

Education

• Waukesha South High School

  High School Diploma

  1987 — 1991

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  SB, Humanities and Science: Brain and Cognitive Science and Creative Writing

  1991 — 1995

Skills

• Public Relations
• Start-Ups
• Entrepreneurship
• Strategic Planning
• Venture Capital
• Public Speaking
• Fundraising
• Management Consulting
• Product Development
• Angel Investing
• Leadership
• Negotiation
• Program Management
• Non-Profits
• Business Strategy
• Strategic Partnerships
• Marketing Strategy
• Research
• Mergers
• New Business Development
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Recruiting
• Strategy
• Nonprofits
• Business Development
• Management
• Commercialization
• Marketing
• Due Diligence
• Business Planning
• Team Building